Lake County BOS supports DEA contract for marijuana eradication funds

LAKEPORT -- The Lake County Sheriff's Office is on track to receive $170,000 from the federal government to eradicate illicit marijuana-growing operations in the county.

The Lake County Board of Supervisors (BOS) unanimously supported the agreement with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) following a nearly two-hour public debate at the Lake County Courthouse Tuesday.

"Public safety of our people, our environment and our lake is paramount, and these funds are absolutely necessary to do this," District 1 Supervisor Jim Comstock said.

Renewal of the DEA-funding contract has become an annual occurrence for the supervisors in recent years. The block of money discussed Tuesday morning would be primarily used for helicopter operations targeting problematic pot grows, sheriff's officials said.

"The magnitude of this problem is enormous," Lake County Sheriff Frank Rivero told the BOS.

But a majority of the roughly 20 citizens in the BOS audience opposed the DEA deal, and those who spoke during the meeting raised issues such as federal agencies' stance on marijuana and the overarching debate over the legality of medical cannabis in America.

"I have no confidence in any board that can possibly vote for this crap," Lucerne resident Bonnie Goodwin said.

Rivero opened the public discussion by saying the efforts funded through the DEA would focus on the expansive, harmful marijuana operations existing in the county, and not smaller grows by people attempting to conform with state and county pot laws.

"We concentrate our efforts and our resources, which are limited, on the large grows, the large-scale commercial marijuana grows," the sheriff said. "I call them commercial growers: profiteers, cartels, the people who are growing large sums of marijuana for profit, which bring an enormous amount of violence."

Rivero added, "I personally have not seen any indication whatsoever from the DEA or the (U.S.) Department of Justice of them showing any interest in prosecuting or addressing legitimate (Proposition) 215 or legitimate compassionate care-type grows."

Lower Lake attorney Ron Green took a different view on the DEA contract, saying, "In signing this agreement, the sheriff will in essence be agreeing to ignore state medical marijuana laws and enforce federal law."

"(The DEA) should be giving this county money to fight meth, not to harass the legal marijuana growers," Green, speaking on behalf of the Emerald Unity Coalition, added.

The local lawyer was one of a dozen opponents to express their concerns to the BOS.

"If I was a federal officer and I was cross-trained in state and local laws, which law would I follow first," county resident Joan Moss asked. "If you're divided like that, which law do you follow first?"

Attempting to address some of the critics, District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing said, "I think there's an assumption that (the DEA) won't come if we don't accept the money. I don't believe that."

"If we don't take the money, the DEA could take that very same money and hire agents and send them here," she added.

District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown expressed support for the contract because of the need for funds to purge large pot operations and halt other crimes associated with them.

"There are huge grows that have been busted by our sheriff's department recently that have huge caches of weapons attached to them, they have human trafficking of minor children that are going on," Brown said. "Those are the kind of things that we need to continue our efforts on, and it's a lot more prevalent than you people believe it is."

The sheriff attempted to assure concerned citizens that he would watch the DEA-funded operations closely. "If that federal help at some point becomes too unruly or is outside of the parameters of what I find acceptable, then I will revisit that question," Rivero said.

After authorizing the sheriff to sign the DEA agreement, the supervisors immediately moved into a discussion about contracts for helicopter services related to marijuana operations.

The deals would not only allow for aerial reconnaissance but physical eradication as well, with some illicit grow-sites located miles away from accessible roads, Lake County Sheriff's Capt. Chris Macedo said.

Green said he and the coalition opposed the helicopter agreements. "We urge you to just say 'no' to this unnecessary expenditure of funds and 'no' to low-flying planes and helicopters that annoy the residents of Lake County," he added.

The BOS unanimously approved the agreements with Richvale-based A&P Helicopters Inc., which called for a $20,000 increase to the 2012-13 contract and $60,000 for the 2013-14 fiscal year.

The costs will be paid using grants from the DEA or U.S. Forest Service, according to the sheriff.

Marijuana developed into a theme throughout the supervisors' meeting, as they later talked about whether to take a position on State Senate Bill 439. Community Development Director Rick Coel raised concerns because he felt the proposed legislation would exempt medical marijuana dispensaries from enforcement actions under local nuisance-abatement processes.

Pot shops currently aren't allowed in unincorporated areas of Lake County after the BOS deemed dispensaries illegal land-uses in late 2011.

The supervisors ultimately did not take a stance on the bill after learning the authors planned to draft an amendment to correct misleading language, but they did ask county staff to develop a letter for future consideration urging SB 439 backers to clarify the proposed law.

The BOS was set to debate a third sheriff's office request Tuesday -- a proposal to purchase 23 new duty weapons and 20 magazines -- but department officials asked that the discussion be postponed indefinitely.

Jeremy Walsh is a staff reporter for Lake County Publishing. Reach him at 263-5636, ext. 37 or jwalsh@record-bee.com. Follow coverage on Twitter, @JeremyDWalsh, #Rivero or #LakeBOS.